Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) is proud to announce a record turnout of more than 300 participants at its 6th Organic Seed Growers Conference held in Port Townsend, Washington, on January 19 – 21, 2012. An additional 200 participants joined the conference via live webinar.

Despite a snowstorm in the area, organic plant breeders, farmers, researchers, seed producers, certifiers, policy experts, retailers, students, and processors from across the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia gathered for two days of workshops and networking events. More than 50 speakers presented on organic plant breeding; seed production, harvesting, and distribution; enterprise development; and policy. OSA’s biennial Organic Seed Growers Conference is the only event of its kind in North America.

OSA chose this year’s conference theme – Strengthening Community Seed Systems – to acknowledge the groundswell of activities happening in communities of all sizes – from urban seed libraries to participatory plant breeding projects spanning five states. The conference provided a timely and unique opportunity to trade knowledge, philosophies, techniques, and ideas that strengthen the larger organic seed community.

“We've reached a tipping point where diverse members of the organic community are working together to ensure organic farmers have the seed they need to be successful,” said Micaela Colley, OSA’s executive director. “OSA remains committed to building organic seed systems through collaborative research, education, and advocacy.”

In conjunction with eOrganic, the plant breeding sessions were offered free and open to the public as live webinars. More than 200 participants joined the webinar series throughout the weekend. The recordings will soon be available through eXtension (www.extension.org). In addition, the “Breeding for Nutrition” session will be repeated as a live webinar broadcast on March 23, 2012, at 11 am Pacific time. Registration is required through eXtension.

Proceedings from the 6th Organic Seed Growers Conference are available for free download on OSA’s website at www.seedalliance.org.

Be sure to follow updates on planning for the 2014 Organic Seed Growers Conference, and other upcoming events, by visiting OSA’s website, Seed Broadcast blog, Facebook page, and Twitter.

Organic Seed Alliance advances the ethical development and stewardship of the genetic resources of agricultural seed